Aspiriant LLC Acquires 3 Shares of Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG)

Aspiriant LLC boosted its stake in Booking Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:BKNG) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3 shares during the quarter. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Booking were worth $236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,742,160,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Booking by 2,479.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 116,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $414,234,000 after purchasing an additional 112,249 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Booking in the 1st quarter valued at about $401,371,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Booking in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,774,850,000. Finally, BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new position in Booking in the 4th quarter valued at $220,080,000. 92.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Booking Stock Down 0.8 %

BKNG stock opened at $3,982.38 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $3,726.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $3,614.06. The firm has a market cap of $135.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.87, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.40. Booking Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $2,624.50 and a twelve month high of $4,033.00.

Booking (NASDAQ:BKNG) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The business services provider reported $20.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.03 by $6.36. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. Booking had a net margin of 21.81% and a negative return on equity of 288.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $11.60 EPS. Research analysts expect that Booking Holdings Inc. will post 178.54 EPS for the current year.

Booking Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $8.75 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $35.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Booking’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BKNG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $3,850.00 price objective on shares of Booking in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. B. Riley assumed coverage on Booking in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set a “buy” rating and a $4,400.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Booking from $3,950.00 to $4,025.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Booking from $3,800.00 to $4,500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Booking from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Booking has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $3,902.54.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of Booking stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total value of $2,650,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Glenn D. Fogel sold 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,534.10, for a total transaction of $2,650,575.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 26,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,318,211.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Radakovich Lynn Vojvodich sold 22 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3,583.07, for a total transaction of $78,827.54. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $756,027.77. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,021 shares of company stock valued at $3,617,852 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Booking Company Profile

Booking Holdings Inc, formerly The Priceline Group Inc, is a provider of travel and restaurant online reservation and related services. The Company, through its online travel companies (OTCs), connects consumers wishing to make travel reservations with providers of travel services across the world. It offers consumers an array of accommodation reservations (including hotels, bed and breakfasts, hostels, apartments, vacation rentals and other properties) through its Booking.com, priceline.com and agoda.com brands.